Rachel Morrison
American cinematographer and director (born 1978)
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Rachel Morrison, ASC (born April 27, 1978)[1] is an American cinematographer and director of film and television. As a cinematographer, she is known for her work with directors Rick Famuyiwa, Ryan Coogler, Dee Rees, and Joe Berlinger. For her work on Rees' Mudbound (2017), Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.[2][3]
Rachel Morrison | |
|---|---|
Morrison at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival | |
| Born | April 27, 1978 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Spouse |
Rachel Garza (m. 2011) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | www |
Morrison made her feature film directorial debut with the biographical sports drama The Fire Inside (2024), a biopic of boxer Claressa Shields.[4]
Early life
Morrison grew up in a Jewish family[5] in Cambridge, Massachusetts,[6] and graduated from Concord Academy in 1996.[7]
She took up photography at a young age, and attended New York University, where she completed a double major in film and photography because she was unable to choose between the two; by the end of her degree, she had decided to concentrate on cinematography.[8] She then attended the AFI Conservatory's graduate cinematography program and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in 2006.[9] In 2018, Morrison was awarded with the 28th Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal awarded to alumni of the AFI Conservatory.[10]
Career
Morrison began her career in television, working on series and telefilms for a number of networks. Her cinematography on the 2005 television documentary Rikers High, about high school education within the Rikers Island prison complex, was nominated for an Emmy Award.[11][8]
Morrison worked on The Hills[12] for two years, then shot Zal Batmanglij's Sound of My Voice, which premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.[12] Over the next two years, she photographed Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie and Fruitvale Station, which premiered at Sundance in 2012 and 2013 respectively,[12] as well as Any Day Now (2012), Some Girl(s) (2013) and The Harvest (2013).[11]
At the 2013 Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards, Morrison was awarded the Kodak Vision Award for her work in cinematography and her collaboration with other women filmmakers.[11] The same year, Variety named her as one of the "Up Next" in their Below The Line Impact Report,[13] while Indiewire named her as one of their "Cinematographers To Watch".[12]
In 2014, she photographed Cake, directed by Daniel Barnz,[14] which she followed up with the 2015 film Dope. Dope premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, making it Morrison's seventh film to screen at the annual festival in six consecutive years.[15]
2014 marked Morrison's first foray into directing, as she was offered the chance to direct an episode of the television series American Crime, which aired in 2015.[15] In 2017 she became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.[16]
Morrison was the cinematographer for Dee Rees's 2017 film Mudbound.[17] For her work on the film, Morrison became the first woman to win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cinematographer,[17] the first woman to be nominated for the feature category of the American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards,[18] and the first woman ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.[2]
Morrison served as cinematographer for Marvel's Black Panther (2018).[3]
On June 19, 2019, it was announced Morrison would make her directorial debut on Flint Strong,[19] which was later retitled The Fire Inside and released in 2024.[4]
In March 2023, Morrison directed an episode of the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian season 3.[20] In 2025, she began directing the film Love of Your Life, starring Margaret Qualley, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aaron Pierre and Gabriel Basso.[21]
In addition to filmmaking, Morrison is also a faculty member of the Maine Media College.[22]
Personal life
Filmography
Director
Feature film
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The Fire Inside | |
| 2026 | Love of Your Life | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Quantico | Episode: "Kill" |
| 2015–16 | American Crime | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Homemade | Episode: "The Lucky Ones" Also writer |
| 2020–21 | Hightown | 4 episodes |
| 2021 | The Morning Show | Episode: "A Private Person" |
| American Crime Story | 2 episodes | |
| 2023 | The Mandalorian | Episode: "Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore" |
| TBD | The Savant | 2 episodes |
Cinematographer
Feature film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Just an American Boy | Amos Poe | Documentary |
| 2007 | Palo Alto | Brad Leong | |
| 2011 | Sound of My Voice | Zal Batmanglij | |
| Dorfman in Love | Brad Leong | ||
| 2012 | Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie | Tim Heidecker Eric Wareheim |
|
| Any Day Now | Travis Fine | ||
| 2013 | Fruitvale Station | Ryan Coogler | |
| Some Girl(s) | Daisy von Scherler Mayer | ||
| The Harvest | John McNaughton | ||
| 2014 | Little Accidents | Sara Colangelo | |
| Druid Peak | Marni Zelnick | ||
| Cake | Daniel Barnz | ||
| 2015 | Life on the Line | Isaac Feder | Documentary |
| Dope | Rick Famuyiwa | ||
| 2017 | Mudbound | Dee Rees | |
| 2018 | Black Panther | Ryan Coogler | |
| 2019 | Seberg | Benedict Andrews | |
| 2021 | Absolutely Accidental | Jake Schick |
Television series
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2003–09 | Room Raiders | |
| 2007 | Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County | |
| 2008–09 | The Hills | 24 episodes |
| 2011 | Funny or Die Presents... | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind | Segment "Will.i.am" |
| 2012–13 | Oprah's Master Class | Documentary; 5 episodes |
| 2014 | The System with Joe Berlinger | Documentary; Episode: "False Confessions" |
| 2020 | Homemade | Episode: "The Lucky Ones" |
| 2022 | They Call Me Magic | Documentary; 4 episodes |
Television movies, miniseries, and specials
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Rikers High | Victor Buhler | Documentary |
| 2010 | Summit on the Summit | Michael Bonfiglio | |
| 2011 | Lady Gaga: Inside the Outside | Davi Russo | |
| 2012 | Oprah's Master Class: Special Edition | Joe Berlinger Michael Bonfiglio Bruce Sinofsky | |
| 2015 | Oprah's Master Class: Civil Rights Special | Joe Berlinger Michael Bonfiglio Bruce Sinofsky Annetta Marion | |
| Oprah's Master Class: Belief Special | Joe Berlinger Michael Bonfiglio Bruce Sinofsky Annetta Marion | ||
| 2016 | Confirmation | Rick Famuyiwa | |
| What Happened, Miss Simone? | Liz Garbus | Documentary | |
| 2021 | VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World | Ryan Polito | |
| 2023 | LEGO: Play is your superpower | Ellen Kuras |
Awards and nominations
| Institution | Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 2017 | Best Cinematography | Mudbound | Nominated | [26] |
| American Society of Cinematographers | 2017 | Outstanding Cinematography | Nominated | [18] | |
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | 2017 | Best Cinematography | Nominated | [27] | |
| News and Documentary Emmy Awards | 2012 | Outstanding Achievement in a Craft: Cinematography | Rikers High | Nominated | |
| New York Film Critics Circle | 2017 | Best Cinematographer | Mudbound | Won | [17] |
| Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society | 2017 | Best Cinematography | Nominated | ||
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2016 | Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program | What Happened, Miss Simone? | Nominated | [28] |
| Satellite Awards | 2018 | Best Cinematography | Black Panther | Nominated | [29] |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association | 2017 | Best Cinematography | Mudbound | Nominated | [30] |
| Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards | 2013 | Kodak Vision Award | N/a | Won | [8] |